


Heal what has been Hurt

by originalskywalker



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Peter Parker Meets the Avengers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-06-04 22:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15156596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/originalskywalker/pseuds/originalskywalker
Summary: The Avengers are back together, learning to heal after the events that took place in Civil War. Things are finally going well for the team, but not all good things last forever. There's always going to be someone that needs fixing.-Or-Peter Parker endures more loss than any 15 year old should ever know and Tony - along with the Avengers - help him to heal.





	1. Loss

**Author's Note:**

> Hello beautiful people! This is my first story on this platform and I really hope you guys like it. Also I haven't written in what feels like forever so please forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. I'll do my best to update as often as possible :).
> 
> Civil War happened but I don't like conflict so everyone's friends again (thought tensions can be a bit high). Tony still owns the tower because of reasons.

Iron Man blasted gracefully through the air. That was, until a beam of energy shot into him, nearly smacking him out of the sky. "Alright guys," he said, clearly peeved as he struggled to regain his composure, "I think it's about time we wrap this party up." 

The entire Avengers team was currently fighting off a strange group of robotic henchmen. Easy right? It should have been, but the inventor who had created the bots had been extremely thorough in their programing. These things were advanced - and that's coming from Tony Stark. It also didn't help that there were literally thousands of them. Luckily, the bots hadn't gotten into the city as of yet, they just had to keep it that way.

"This hasn't felt like much of a party." Natasha's voice came over the coms and Tony smirked at their running joke. Despite the hollow feeling in his gut to keep his distance from the team he couldn't help but feel happy that they were fighting together again. After the whole mess with the accords, it took him months to convince the government to set his friends free, and it took even longer to come to a compromise on the laws.

An agreement was made to keep Bucky safe, King T'challa graciously looking after the ex-brainwashed assassin. Once everything was relatively back to "normal", Team Iron Man and Team Cap had a long talk. Both sides told there story, and both sides admitted the ways they were wrong. Tony was surprised however, when they apologized to him for blaming him and making his life a living hell when he was only doing what he - and 117 countries - felt was best. 

The mechanic balked at them before waving off their sincere remorse with a snarky comment and the insistence that they should have Italian for dinner. The team grinned, knowing full well that all was forgiven. 

Tony shook his mind free from the thoughts that made his heart swell with hope when Friday spoke up. "Sir, it appears there is an extremely strong energy signal coming from the north-side of the facility. It is possible that this object is what's controlling the enemies robots." 

"You hear that Cap?" Iron Man asked, awaiting orders.

"Loud and clear, shut 'em down if possible" 

He quickly found the source and got to work on figuring out on how to shut it down. "Friday, any suggestions?" 

"There is a strong protective shield around the actual device controlling the enemy. It will take an extensive amount of power to break through as well as destroy the device. The Iron Man armor is capable of doing so, but I must warn you that it would drain your suit completely of power."

The mechanic weighed his options before deciding that the best course of action was to end this right here and now. "Friday, divert all power to my chest piece ." 

"Yes boss." Friday replied instantly. Tony pushed his chest forward and allowed the energy of his suit to be drained. The machine exploded within seconds, every signal one of the robots falling to the ground lifelessly. Iron Man sighed with relief behind his mask before stumbling as his repulsors started to fail bringing him to a haphazard landing. 

The team whooped and tiredly made their way to each other. "God, I love when everything ends phantom menace style!" Clint high-fived Nat, "what do ya say we order take out on the way back the tower. Tony's treat!" He grinned cheekily.

Tony's faceplate lifted to show his unamused face, "Very funny Legolas. Alright what are you guys hungry for?"

The team shouted out a variety of options ranging from Mexican, Swarma, and Thai. "Alright," Tony smirked, "pizza it is." 

The rest shrugged and agreed, not that they really had a choice in the matter anyway. Chatter continued among the team as they boarded the quinjet, each taking their respective seat as Clint sent in a mission report and asked about getting a crew out there to clean up the aftermath. 

Meanwhile, Tony was focused on getting them up in the air and discussing what he missed out on while on the mission with Friday. The man of iron had made it a bit of a habit to shut out any communication from the outside world while on duty, with an exception to only Pepper. Less distractions was good for Tony while he was in mission mode, he could really only allow himself to focus on one thing in a moment if he wanted to get the job done.

"Any messages Fri?" 

"Yes boss. You appear to have 7 missed calls from Mr. Parker and 4 missed calls from Happy Hogan." 

Tony's breath caught in his throat. "Call Peter." he choked out.

The phone rang and rang. No Answer. "Call him again." Again, the same results. "Track his suit."

"The Spiderman suit is not activated at this moment -" 

"I don't care! Bypass all security and tell me where he is!" Tony was feeling frantic now. What if the kid was hurt? What if he was dead? Tony couldn't even process the thought of a world without Peter Parker in it.

The Avengers turned quickly to Tony at the sudden raise in his voice. Before, Tony was talking so quietly they couldn't hear what he was saying, and they were all too caught up in their own conversations to care. 

"Tony?" It was Steve who approached the panicked man, "what's wrong?"

Tony ignored him. "Boss, Mr. Parker is currently in the common room of Avengers Tower." The AI was talking loud enough for all of them to hear now, "He appears to be under distress." The genius strode over the panel that could open the back hatch of the the quinjet, but was stopped when a strong hand gripped the arm of his Iron man suit. 

"Back off Steve!" Tony pushed him off.

"You don't have enough power to fly all the back to the Tower and you know it. We're only about 15 minutes out as it is." The leader of the team stopped before hesitantly continuing, "Tony... what is going on?"

Iron man plopped down in an open seat and put his head in his armored hands. "I wish I knew."

__________

When the quinjet landed at Avengers Tower Tony was the first one out, nearly sprinting for the common room as his armor shed it self and diligently flew to its station. The rest followed closely behind, sparring worried glances at each other. They had no idea what was going on or who the AI was talking about and Tony had refused to tell them anything. All they new was that this "Mr. Parker" must be important to Tony for him to freak out the way he is. 

Tony bumped into Happy during his frantic run to find Peter. He grabbed onto his friend's shoulder firmly and took note of the look of sorrow in the man's eyes. Happy hardly ever showed emotion. "What happened Happy." His bodyguard simply shook his head and pointed in the direction of the sitting area. 

"Just help the kid." He whispered hoarsely. 

Tony cautiously entered the room. "Pete?" A sniffle echoed through the room. The rest of the team stayed back, close to the entrance as they watched the genius slowly walk towards the couch. The could see a mess of curly, brown hair from their view of the back of the couch, but nothing else of the person 'Pete'.  
"Hey bud." Tony slowly rounded to face his kid, his eyes slowly widening at the sight of the 15 year old. The boy had silent tears streaming down his face and he gripped his hair so tightly, Tony thought he would rip it out. Scariest of all, Peter was covered from head to toe in blood. Tony grabbed the kid's hands gently, forcing Peter to look at him. "Hey Peter, hey," he said in a soft voice, "It's ok kid, I'm here." 

The boy stared at him in bewilderment, almost as if he didn't know that Tony had walked into the room. Peter launched himself forward into his mentor's arms as a strangled sob escaped his lips. "Why? Why!" He cried.

"Why what Pete? What happened." Peter continued sobbing, "I need you to tell me what's wrong so I can help you." He pushed the kid away only slightly so he could look him in the eye. Peter felt as though the world was crushing in on him. He couldn't breath. He couldn't breath! He realized in a panic. "Peter! It's ok, breath with me bud." Tony took deep breaths trying to calm the hysterical teen.

Meanwhile, the Avengers were in complete shock over the sight. If it was one thing Tony Stark lacked, it was his ability to show emotion. They all knew the man hid behind an iron wall, both literally and physically, so to watch him hold onto this young man with such fear trying in vain to comfort him was something they thought they'd never see. 

"What is going on?" Wanda whispered, confusion and concern etched throughout the features of her face. She turned to look at her leader, who could only shrug in response. 

Peter was starting to regain some of his composure, taking in shallow breaths. "That's good Pete. Keep breathing with me." Tony continued to breath deeply, urging the kid to follow his example. The spider-ling eventually calmed down, and he melted into Tony, his head hidden in the older man's shoulder. 

Tony didn't push the kid to talk. He waited for what felt like an eternity before a muffled voice startled him from his thoughts. "She's gone." Tony froze. 

"Who's gone?" 

Another choked sob. "Aunt May."

No. NO! Why couldn't this beautiful child catch a break? Tony held Peter as tightly as he could, whispering what he hoped to be comforting words to the boy. 

"I'm all alone." 

"No. You're not alone, I'm here. I'm here." He rocked back and forth in a soothing fashion. 

"CPS s-said they were going to take me away," he shoved his head into to Tony's arm and his voice was so muffled the man could hardly here him at all, "I - I don't - I don't wanna go. Please." 

Tony pushed him away again and made sure to look straight into the teen's eyes. "Nobody is going to take you away. You're going to stay with me." For the first time that day, he could see a spark of hope light up in the kid's eyes. The mechanic slowly stood, pulling Peter up with him. "Come on kid, let's get you to bed."

Peter said nothing as he dutifully allowed Tony to push him out of the room. He didn't even notice the entire team of the Avengers standing in the shadows of the room as he passed.

________________

It would be another two days before the team saw Tony or the mysterious Peter again. They all had questions for the Iron Man and they becoming a little antsy about getting their answers. So when the man of question strolled into the common floor kitchen acting as if nothing had happened they took their chance to force him to talk.

"Tony," Steve blocked the exit, "I think we deserve some answers." The genius rolled his eyes, every sign of comfort and love he showed a few says ago was gone and he was back to his snarky self. 

"Shoot Capsicle, what do you want to know?" He plopped down on the love seat with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. 

Natasha was first to interrogate him, "Who's the kid?" 

"His name is Peter Parker." He answered simply, looking bored.

"Oooookkkkk..." Clint drawled out, "why was he here."

Tony sighed. "The kid's aunt died in a car wreck two days ago, she was all he had left. I promised her I would take care of him if anything ever should happen. He's going to be living with us from now on." The older man shifted uncomfortably, almost as if he expected the team to fight him over the decision.

A moment of silence went by. "How do you even know this kid?" 

Tony sighed again, this time more deeply as he stared into his pitch black coffee. "Do you remember Spider-Man? From Germany?"

"You mean the little asshole wearing the bright red and blue spandex?" Sam spoke up for the first time. 

Tony nodded and Steve walked forward. "Tony, please don't tell me that that kid is Spider-Man." Tony didn't respond. "You brought a child into a war?" Steve said righteously.

Tony stood up quickly, staring Steve down. "Well it wasn't supposed to be a war, now was it? I was given hours to bring you all in before they responded with more vicious measures, I needed someone who could tie you all up and the kid was the best bet," Tony was yelling know, "Was it irresponsible? Yes. Was it the right thing to do? No! I was desperate ok! I wasn't going to let all my friends get murdered when I had a chance to save them." 

The silence was deafening as Steve and Tony stared each other down. "I realize my mistakes and I am trying to fix them. I can't stop Peter from being Spider-Man, but I can make sure he is as safe as possible while he's out there running around in tights."

Nobody responded, making Tony feel more unnerved than if they were actually yelling at him. "Aren't you guys going to yell at me?" 

The team no longer looked angry, in-fact, they look sympathetic and understanding. Steve placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, "you obviously care for the kid Tony, and we can all tell you're doing your best to protect him." 

Tony nodded, but couldn't bring himself to smile.

"Alright, enough mushy crap. You mean I have to live with a 12 year old?" Sam jokingly asked.

Tony rolled his eyes, "he's fifteen." 

"Oh wow, and all of his family is gone?" Natasha leaned forward in her chair an placed her elbows on her knees. She looked concerned. 

Tony nodded, "His parent's died when he was six, He’s never really told me what happened to them. When he was fourteen his uncle was murdered while they were walking back to their apartment. Kid watched the whole thing go down," he looked away, "A few days ago, he and his Aunt were on their way here so that he could meet all of you and spend the weekend. Happy couldn't pick him up because of a security meeting. A semitruck slammed into the side of their car, killing May instantly.

"Peter only had a few major injuries, including a fractured wrist, but they were already healed by the time the ambulance got there." Tony put this head in his hands, "He says that he can't stop seeing it. He's only a kid! He doesn't deserve this." The mechanic sat heavily on the coach, laying his head back and staring up at the ceiling. "Happy says he was in shock when he found him in the hospital, blood all over his face and hands."

"Good god." Tony wasn't exactly sure who said it, but it seemed that everyone in the room felt the same way. 

"Don't worry Tony," Natasha smiled gently at the distressed man, "Peter is part of our family now, we'll help you take care of him."

The Iron Man look from face to face of his team as they smiled encouragingly at him. "Thanks guys." Tony smiled for the first time in two days.

"So when do we get to meet the Spider-Boy?" Clint said as he walked over to fiddle with his arrows. 

"It's Spider-Man." Everyone but Tony jumped at the voice from above.

"Alright Pete, come on down." 

The team looked up to see a small figure in a red hoodie walking barefoot across the ceiling. He tilted his head to look down on them before jumping, twisting on the way down to land neatly in the middle of the living area. 

Peter waved awkwardly, unable to bring a smile to his face, "Hey everyone."


	2. Meeting the team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers get to spend some time with their newest resident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a bit shorter than the last. It turns out that it's much harder to find time to write nowadays than we I was younger haha. Enjoy!

Tony made his way over to the obviously uncomfortable boy. "How ya doin kid?" I didn't expect you to be up and around this early." Peter knew that was code for 'I didn't expect you to get out of bed today.' 

Peter nodded half-heartedly, "Yea, I'm ok." His mentor stared at him expectantly, and he lowered his voice so the other's couldn't hear, "I just couldn't sit alone in that room anymore." The kid looked down sadly and Tony, not being able to help himself, pulled him into a hug.

Meanwhile, a whole crew of super hero's were still bewildered at the younger man's entrance, choosing to overlook that Tony actually hugging someone besides Pepper. Not that they were going to disregard that action completely, it would be brought up sooner or later and he would be teased about it when the situation was no longer so sad. 

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," Clint interrupted as Peter reluctantly pulled away from Tony, "but were you just standing on the ceiling?"

Peter was taken aback at the archer's blunt question and looked down nervously. Tony glared at Clint, looking as though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to murder the Hawkeye or hide his kid away forever. "Uh yea," the younger answered hesitantly, "it's kinda part of the whole Spiderman thing." He pointed a finger upward and twirled it in a circle as if the gesture would explain everything. 

"But you're barefoot," this time it was Natasha raising the question, "don't you need adhesive shoes or -" 

Peter cut her off abruptly, "Tony doesn't like when I get shoe marks on the ceiling." 

Tony looked down in attempt to hide the small smile he couldn't seem to keep off his face. Despite Tony's best efforts, this kid had managed to have the metal man wrapped around his little finger. It helped to see that the others were amused too. 

"Oh, but yea, the whole sticking to walls thing is all me." 

Sam scoffed, "Now that's just freaky." The small amount of happiness Tony had let himself feel flew out the window at the comment and he looked at Peter worriedly, expecting the boy to be upset. Peter had been high on emotions the past couple days - understandably - so Tony really wasn't sure if the kid could take teasing at the moment. 

He was pleasantly surprised however, when he saw the Spider-boy make his best effort to smile. "Yea it's pretty out there, but are you really one to talk? I mean you're leader took a bunch of drugs and now he can bench press a truck." 

Clint let out a loud bark of laughter as Tony tried to contain his giggles. The others simply gaped at the boy, obviously pleased with his answer. 

"Woo! He got you good Cap!" Clint wiped a tear from his eye. 

Steve simply smiled and gave small shrug, "Well, he's not wrong."

Peter ducked his head bashfully, hiding an almost unnoticeable smile. Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder, "How about we move this into the kitchen, I'm starving." Peter nodded his head vigorously at the mention of food as the Team shuffled their way into the large kitchen area.

Tony and Peter walked a few feet behind the others so that they could have a moment alone to talk. "Are you ok with this?" Tony asked quietly, "I know this is all new, and if you're not ready we can go have dinner on our private floor-" He didn't miss the way that Peter's eyes lit up slightly when he said our private floor. 

Ever since he found Peter practically hysterical about being taken away by the CPS, the Iron Man had made a diligent effort to make sure the boy wouldn't leave his sight. Dealing with the paperwork was a pain but it was worth it to know that Peter was now under his care. The press would be even worse to deal with, but he's going to wait as long as possible to put everything out in the open so that the kid can settle in before being bombarded by a million questions. 

"- I could even order out from that pizza place you love so much." Peter cut off the older man before he could ramble further. 

"I think I'll be fine Tony. I can't just sit in my room and do nothing all day, I have to get up and take care of myself if I'm going to get past the grief," He ducked his head down and shrugged, "besides, I was going to have to meet the Avengers eventually."

"I know, and I'm really proud of you." Peter looked up, disbelief evident in his eyes, "But you don't have to act like everything is perfect, Pete. You have the right to mourn, and we are all here for you. You can come to me for anything." He pulled his kid into a tight hug.

A sniffle, "Thanks, Tony."

"Of course kid. Now let's get in there before those animals take all the good leftovers."

_________________

Most of dinner went smoothly, the team made small talk, mostly asking Peter different questions about himself. "What grade are you in?" "How did you get your powers?" "A radioactive spider? Really??? "So do you, like, talk to spiders too? Cause I know a guy who talks to ants -"

Peter seemed content. Not exactly back to his happy and over-talkative self quite yet, but for the moment this was all Tony could ask for. 

"So, Spider-baby, how about you join us for training tomorrow?" Clint asked, "I'd love to see whatcha got." 

Tony stiffened. 

"I - I can't." Peter bit his lip and looked down as he pushed his unfinished food away, "Aunt May's funeral is tomorrow." Tony rubbed his back comfortingly and Natasha sent Clint a death glare. The archer responded with a shrug they both new meant 'How was I supposed to know?'. A sniffle from the boy brought their full attention back to him. 

After an awkward moment of silence Steve cleared his throat, "Well then, all training is canceled tomorrow in order to attend the funeral." Their leader's voice was strong and clear, almost as though he was challenging anyone to question him on the matter. 

"What?" Peter lifted his head and wiped the water from his cheeks. "Why?"

Natasha smiled sweetly at him, "Because we want to be there for you Peter." 

"You guys don't have to do that." Peter mumbled.

"Peter, you're part of our family now. That means that anything that concerns you, concerns us as well." Steve said. 

Peter looked around the room to see his new family, smiling encouragingly at him. The tears were flowing freely now, "Thank you," he managed to choke out. What happened next surprised everyone. Black Widow herself strode over to the distraught boy and wrapped him into a hug. He leaned into her gratefully and she smiled lovingly at him, running her fingers through his curls. Meanwhile, the others gaped. Natasha quickly realized that she let go of her 'super scary spy' appearance and glared at her team, daring them to mention it later. 

"Come on, bud," Tony patted Peter on the shoulder, "Let's get you to bed." 

Peter sniffled and shifted off Natasha to lean on Tony. Tony grunted as the weight of a teenage boy slammed into him but didn't seem bothered. The Iron Man's teammates were still baffled at the emotion and love Tony was showing to the Spider-ling. Nobody had ever expected the playboy to ever become a father figure to anyone, let alone actually go out of his way to take a kid in and love them as his own. 

Tony shuffled to the door, pushing Peter along as gently as he could. He took one moment to look back at his teammates, mouthing a 'thank you' before the pair disappeared. 

"Well," Clint smiled and crossed his arms, "I don't know about you guys, but I certainly am hopeful for the future." The others nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is mostly going to focus on domestic avenger plots and Peter finding happiness again, but don't worry, I won't forget to add in a little whump here and there ;).


	3. The funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and the Avengers rally around Peter to help him make it through May's funeral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So please don't kill me... I know this is coming so late and I'm so sorry for that. Thank you all for your patience! I hope I did this chapter justice as it was incredibly hard to right about. Enjoy!   
> Hopefully I will have another chapter up soon. I'm going to skip ahead a little bit from Peter's mourning process if that's ok with you guys. He's not going to be perfect, but I just can't write about him moping around for 15 chapters haha.

The tie was too tight around his neck. He felt as though he was suffocating as the sleek black car pulled into the parking lot of the small funeral home he had visited far too many times before. First his parents, then Ben, and now May.

He tugged on his Mentor’s sleeve, griping it with such intensity he was almost worried he would tear it, “I can’t do this.” 

Tony had decided that it would be best for the rest of the team to ride separately so that Peter wouldn’t be too overwhelmed. Right now, he was thankful for that decision. He turned to the boy next to him who had yet to release his suit jacket. Peter looked straight ahead, his face completely devoid of emotion, “Pete, look at me kid.” The billionaire gently put his hand of the side of the kid’s face so that he could look him in the eye. “I’m so sorry you have to do this. I will not leave your side for a single second ok, and you don’t have to speak to anyone if you don’t want to.” 

Peter’s wide eyes filled with tears and his mouth set to a thin line. He didn’t say anything, he simply nodded and buried his face into Tony’s chest. After about five minutes had gone by, Peter released his mentor and took a deep breath. “You ready kid?” Another nod.

Peter and tony sat in the front row, allowing other mourners to come up and give their respects. The rest of the Avengers were there, spread out so as not to raise suspicion about Peter’s identity. 

The funeral was short and sweet. Many of May’s friends came up and said kind words and told funny stories. Peter thought about getting up there and telling the world how much May meant to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, Aunt May knew she was his entire world, and her knowing was all that mattered.

When it was over, Tony led the emotional exhausted boy back to the car. Peter hadn’t spoken a word since they got to the funeral home and it was starting to worry Tony. He was about to ask if he wanted to stop somewhere to eat when two teenagers ran up to them. 

“Peter!” The larger boy rammed into the spider-kid with such force that it would’ve knocked a normal person down. The girl placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and looked at him with sad eyes. Peter leaned into his friends, and the girl whispered something into his ear. Then for the first time that day, Peter allowed himself to break down. The three teens stood in the middle of the parking lot holding onto each other like it was the end of the world while Tony looked on in bafflement. The other Avengers were starting to gather together and watched sadly at the scene before them.

“Poor маленький паук” Natasha cooed quietly. 

Finally, the three broke off from one another each one wiping their eyes and sniffling. Peter turned toward his mentor “Tony, this is Ned and MJ.” MJ stared Tony down in a way that was almost intimidating, Ned however, was about two seconds from freaking out completely.

“OMG! Tony Stark! It is such an honor to meet you sir, wow this is amazing!” 

Tony wanted to be annoyed at the kid’s behavior, this was one the worst days of Peter’s life after all. When he saw the small smile that flashed across his kid’s face at his best friend’s actions however, he couldn’t stop one from grazing his face as well, “Nice to meet you Ted, and MJ.” He gestured to the girl who was far more standoffish than the boy. She softened and offered a small hello. 

“Both of you need to visit the tower from time to time… We have a great movie room.” He saw Peter perk up out of the corner of his eyes. 

“Really?” He asked quietly. 

“Of course, kid.” He pulled the spider-baby close to him. “I’m going to take him home now, but really, I would love for both of you to visit.” 

Ned, to say the least, freaked out, “Oh wow, sir that would be amazing! Thank you so much! I can’t be-“

MJ elbowed him in the side to stop the constant rambling. “We’d love that, thank you.” She said bluntly. MJ moved her attention back to Peter and after hesitating for a moment she said, “Take care of yourself, loser.”

They shared a smile and he nodded, “Yea you too.” Ned coughed and the other two broke eye contact, both blushing like crazy. “So anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I’ll see you both later.” 

The team watched the entire interaction from across the parking lot and all shared smiles. Whatever happened to this kid, he has plenty of people by his side to help him through it. 

Once Tony and Peter got back into the car, they shared exactly two seconds of silence before Tony ruined it with, “So, who’s this MJ girl?”

Peter covered his red face with his hands and slouched down into his seat, “Oh my god, Tony!”

Then they both laughed for the first time in days.


	4. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a nightmare and Tony does his very best to comfort him. Afterward, fun in the training room begins :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days! Please don't let this make you all think that I'm going to be any better at updating than I was before, haha, but I certainly will try :D.   
> I really hope I'm not moving to fast with this story. The last chapter was pretty much a filler to move on with what I really want to write about.

He could hear the crunch of the metal as the truck slammed into them. He felt the wind brush through his ears as they flipped through the air. He heard Aunt May’s short-lived scream that abruptly cut off as the car returned to the ground. He saw the blood dripping from her head and her blank eyes staring back at him.

Peter let out a strangled scream as he awoke from the memory that had refused to leave his mind since the moment it happened. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, all his efforts to calm down and take deep breaths proving useless. 

“Peter, you seem to be in distress. Would you like me to alert Mr. Stark?” He could barely hear Friday’s mechanical voice over the beating of his heart. Peter let out a strangled yes as he struggled to control the panic attack that was building. 

 

Tony was jamming out to ACDC in his lap in the early hours of the morning when Friday interrupted him.

“Boss, Mr. Parker has awoken and is in extreme distress. He is requesting your presence.”

The Man of Iron dropped his tools without hesitation and sprinted toward the elevators. “Take me to our floor. Quickly, Friday.” He wrung his hands together and the elevator took off at a much faster speed than usual. It was still one of the longest rides of Tony’s life. 

When he finally made it to Peter’s room the boy was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack. He flinched as the light from the hallway streamed into his room. Tony quickly slammed the door shut and ran to the young boy’s side. “Peter,” he said as gently as he could as he tried to grab onto the thrashing child, “Peter look at me.” He managed to hold onto both of Peter’s wrists as the kid slowly stopped resisting. His big brown eyes met Tony’s, pain etched into every feature of his face. “Hey, you’re alright. It’s gonna be ok.” 

“No.” Peter slammed his head into the man’s chest, each breathe coming out as a gasp.

“No what, Peter?” The older man ran his head through the kid’s soft curls.

Peter didn’t raise his head, instead choosing to mumble against Tony’s chest, “It’s not going to be ok.” Tony froze. “She’s gone Tony. Why is she gone? Why does everyone leave me?”

Tears welled up in Tony’s eyes. He could hardly remember the last time he allowed himself to cry, but this kid, this little spider punk had opened up Tony’s heart more than once. He couldn’t bare to see his kid in pain. “I don’t know.” He answered truthfully. This seemed to only cause Peter to cry harder. Crap. “But I promise you, Pete, you are not alone. You hear me?” He pulled his kid away and held him firmly by his shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes. “You have me, and I’m not going anywhere soon. I promise.” 

They stared at each other for a few moments before Peter plowed back into him, “Thank you.” It was so quiet that Tony almost missed it. 

“Of course, kid.”

 

Tony stayed with Peter until the sun rose, neither of them talking or sleeping, just holding onto each other until Peter was calm enough to function. “Are you feeling any better?” 

“Yes, much better,” Peter adjusted himself so that he was burrowed comfortable into the man’s side. “Thank you, Tony. Thank you for everything.”

Tony hugged him tightly, “Of course, kid.” Another few minutes of comfortable silence went by before Tony broke it once more, “You didn’t get much sleep bud, do you want to go back to bed?”

Peter shook his head solemnly, “No, I don’t want to risk seeing… it again.” His mentor nodded in understanding, “I kind of… I kind of would like to go swinging.”

Tony grimaced and gave Peter a look that, in so many words, said, ‘so soon?’. “I don’t even have to leave building!” Peter pleaded, “There’s plenty of room in the gym.” He pouted his lower lip, “Please, Tony.”

“Alright, alright, put the puppy dog eyes away.” He playfully pushed the kid off him and rolled his eyes, “Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll meet you down there.” Peter hopped up and let out an excited ‘YES!’. Tony smiled at his enthusiasm and left the room to get his training equipment, if the kid was going to climb all over the walls like a crazy person he might as well get a workout in.

 

When the team gathered outside of the training room, the last thing they expected to see was a tiny fifteen-year-old kid flipping through the air and swinging from the rafters while Tony practiced martial arts on the mats below. “Slow down, kid, you’re going to kill yourself!” Peter ignored his father-figure as he landed onto one of the metal beams above and took a breath.

Then he just, jumped. The team, who were still standing at the entrance of the gym watching the boy with rapt attention, started forward with gasps as the boy hurtled to the ground. They were sure he was done for when he let out some webbing and pulled him self up far above the group. “Woohoo!!!” He laughed as he flew through the air. 

“Yea,” Tony said, when he noticed their terrified faces, “he scared the shit out me the first time he did that too.”

“Aren’t you afraid he’s going to misjudge?” Rogers asked as he nervously watched the Spider-Man do his thing.

“Oh, of course,” Tony took a swig from his water, “but I’ve learned to trust him. He has this thing he calls the ‘spidey-sense’ which apparently alerts him to danger or when he’s about to slam into the ground. Hasn’t seemed to fail him yet.”

The room went silent, save for Peter’s cheers up above, before Sam mumbled, “This kid just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” 

“I heard that!” Peter called from the ceiling he was now strolling across.

Sam’s eyes widened, and Tony pointed up at the kid, “He also has super hearing, among other things.”

“Interesting,” Natasha said as she pulled out her batons and spun them around in her hands, “Would the spider-baby like to spar?” 

No sooner than the words had left her mouth, Peter was right in front of her, hanging upside down from a string of web, “Spider-Man” He spun to look at Tony, “Can I?”

The Iron Man sighed, “Widow, just don’t kill my kid, okay?” Natasha smiled and gave her word not to murder Peter. Peter set himself on the ground and bounced in anticipation.

“Let’s do this!” He jumped up and did a 360 in midair and ran after Natasha to the sparing mats.

“Be careful Peter!” Tony turned attention back to the dummy and proceeded to strike it, looking back every few second to watch the two spider-themed super hero’s fight.

Steve and Clint walked up to Tony and smiled coyly. Tony raised an eyebrow and smacked the dummy in the face, “What are you two so happy about?”

Clint grinned, “So, your kid huh.” 

Tony froze as his palm struck the chest of his target, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He grabbed a towel and wiped his face, leaving his workout to watch the rest of Peter and Natasha’s sparring match. 

“Sure, you don’t Tony,” Clint laughed as Tony rolled up the towel to whip him with it.

“Get out of here, bird-brain!” Tony tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. 

Steve still stood next to Tony, ginning like a maniac. The Iron Man rolled his eyes, “You’re going to tease me too?”

“Of course,” Steve bobbed his head, “but on a real note Tony, it’s nice to see how much you care for the kid. You make a great father.”

Tony’s genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist persona faltered at Steve’s words, “You really think so?” Tony asked quietly. Steve had never heard him sound so unsure.

“Yea, I am.” They shared a smile and Steve put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I think I’m going to adopt him.” Well that was a bombshell Steve wasn’t expecting.

“Really?” Tony nodded. “Tony that’s great! Have you talked to him about it yet?”

“No not yet. I wanted to see if it would even be possible with my past before I got his hopes up. Right now, I am his legal guardian, but he deserves more than that.” Tony took a deep breath, “He deserves a family.”

“And so do you.” Steve added.

Tony tried, and failed, to hide his smile, “Thanks Cap.”

“Come on Peter! Stop holding back!” The two heroes turned their attention to the fight that had been quickly escalating. Peter was doing an excellent job of holding his own, but Tony knew how afraid he was to go all out and hurt someone. Widow landed a solid punch to Spider-Man’s face and he stumbled back. “In a real fight you have to use everything you’ve got to end it.” Peter flipped away from her, “You can’t keep running away.”

Peter flew at her with his foot out. It would have been a solid kick if not for The Black Widow’s famous reflexes. The rest of the team were starting to gather to the side lines, all of them cheering Peter on, “Give her everything you’ve got kid!” 

“You’ve got this Pete!” Tony joined in the cheers. Peter looked over at his mentor, gasping for breath and silently asking what to do. Tony nodded at him, “Show them what you’ve got kid.”

Peter straightened, and in a fashion that would have made professional gymnast’s jealous, he leapt up into the air. He came at Natasha in a blur of movement landing several solid hits before she knocked him back once more. She ran at his with such speed and power that he was taken back, so overwhelmed by her constant attacks to even fight back. She nailed him with punches and kicks, yelling at him to stop holding back, to fight her with everything he had.

His heart rate sped up and he gritted his teeth to stop himself from screaming at her. He became so consumed with the fight that all his pain, anger, sadness, everything he had been feeling for the past few days was suddenly released into his strength. 

He grabbed onto the edge of the racks that held all the equipment for lifting weights and flung it straight across the room at Natasha. She yelped and tumble out of the way. It ended up flying nearly 20 feet before slamming into the wall on the other side. 

Then it was completely silent. Everyone stared in shock at this tiny boy who just proved how much strength he really had within seconds. Natasha propped herself up from where she had landed in her escape of certain death and looked at Peter with wide eyes. “I am so sorry! I didn’t, I didn’t mean to. I just got so caught up in the moment. Are you ok?” He stumbled over himself to apologize but instead Natasha simply grinned at the spider-baby.

“Nice work. You still need training, but I think we can manage.” She picked herself up and sauntered out of the room. 

The rest were starting to come out of their shock at what just happened when Peter walked up to them, “Sorry about the wall… and the floor… and all of your weights.” She smiled sheepishly at them.

“Actually, they were only Steve’s weights, specially made for his strength, and you just lifted all of them like they were nothing.” Tony rubbed a hand down his face.

“Oh… sorry?”

Steve wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders, “You have nothing to be sorry for son. You need to explore your powers, or you’ll never use them to the full. I think we all discovered something today. Plus, it’s not everyday you get a complement from The Black Widow.

Peter ducked his head and grinned, “That was pretty awesome.”

“That was amazing!” Sam yelled, just now seeming to break free from the shock. Clint still stood next to him, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a huge smile.

“Imagine the possibilities! This is going to be so much fun!” Clint called out and he and Sam began to exit the room.

“We’re going to break so much shit!” 

“Uh no!” Tony called behind them, “No you’re not!” He rolled his eyes and turned back to the kid he hoped to adopt, “Someday, you’re going to give me a heart attack kid.”

Peter ducked his head, “Sorry, Tony.” 

Tony did his best to give a ‘stern dad look’ before completely giving in, “Eh, it’s alright Pete. It really was awesome,” Tony smiled.

“Yea?” hope shined in Peter’s eyes. 

“Yea, kid. So, what do you say we order something for lunch? I’m starving.” He lead the young hero out of the room, glad the day had taken a turn for the better.


End file.
